A ROTH IRA is a type of retirement account accessible to anyone who wants to open one. IRA means individual retirement account. A ROTH IRA is an account that you build for yourself with your money that has already been taxed but is allowed to grow tax-free. You can access your gains without any financial penalties beginning at the age of 59 ½ AND the account has been opened for 5 or more years.
The money grows within your account because it was invested into stocks and other types of investments. Those investments could increase in value, making your money grow. They could also decrease in value, and you could lose money. There is always some inherent risk when you invest your money.
If you should earn interest or dividends on your investments, that money is added to your account and you could earn what’s called compound interest. That is money you earn from money you’ve already earned (i.e. you didn’t have to contribute anything more to earn more money).